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Wow. Did I just say that? And why did it sound like something out of 'Clueless'?
I've been very absent recently. Life has taken a beyond hectic turn since right before the dash. Many of you (I say that as if I have an abundance of followers, when I know that isn't the case) have wondered if I survived the dash, and if so, how did I do. I shall henceforth update.
Because I'm writing this, it does indeed confirm that I survived the dash but man, was it hard. Mind you, Rich and I trained a whole lot more than I did last year. When I talked Rich into doing it with me, I explained everything that went on last year. What I didn't realize is they'd take last year's event, which I thought was tough, and make it that much harder. This year's dash was less like last year's and more like a mini Tough Mudder, and I wasn't the only one who thought so.
I ended up in a pack of guys who also ran last year's, and we were commiserating about the increase in difficulty level from 2010 to 2011. The organizers of the dash thought it would be so much fun to go even higher on the ski slope this year. And the obstacles from last year? Yeah. They would have been child's play this year. They took the tire run/high knees thing like football players do, and threw in a few rows of junked cars and large trucks to hurdle over in between the 4 rows of tires. And the 4' high walls from last year? This year, they were a bit higher and you had to palm over them with upper body strength and then duck under barbed wire walls, about 4 rows of them. The swamp trudge was complicated by massive logs strung on tension through the middle that you had to hurdle over. There was this teeter totter thingie that was about 15 feet up in the air that you had to go up and then partway down and back up and then fully down, and it had little rungs on it. The problem is that it was only about a 2x6x12 so it wasn't that wide and from the height it was a little daunting if you fell off onto the rocky terrain. Hmmm. What else. Oh, the cargo nets took some crack cocaine and beefed up, they made a horizontal one you had to scramble over which was difficult. There was a forest of tires that swung and hit hard when the person ahead of you pushed them out of the way and you got them on the back swing. And the worst part? Instead of going up the ski slope, across a tad, and then back down, they started the down, and went back up, and then down, and then back up and then down, and then back up and then down, and just for fun back up before the final down. My legs tried to detach themselves and hop the ski lift down at one point. There were a few more crazy things that aren't popping into memory right now, but needless to say it was hard.
In spite of the changes to the course and the much more difficult obstacles I finished in: 55:16!!!!! I knocked a full 6 minutes off my time from last year. I couldn't have been any happier. I swore it took me an hour and a half, but when Mom and Dad said I came in at under an hour, and then my shoe tag confirmed it, I was amazed. Rich came in about 3 minutes ahead of me which was the exact same pace/distance we kept during our training, so it definitely paid off.
We were muddy, tired, sweaty, slightly out of breath, but overall happy. And like the crazies we are, we're signing up for next year again. Actually, I already did and Rich is doing it soon. It's going to be my incentive/inspiration for a speedy healing. Our goal in 2012? To knock another 5 minutes off of our times. And if I REALLY heal up, we're going to try for Tough Mudder in November 2012 too. I think Rich caught the adrenalin junkie bug too :)
If you want to view pics (though this year's photography company SUCKED) go to http://www.sportphoto.com/ look for the warrior dash series. Click on the 2011 Windham WD Saturday August 13
When prompted to enter bib number, put in 80604. They keep threatening to archive the pics, so if you want to see them, look before Sept 23.
I'll post a 'rest of August/pre surgery update' hopefully tomorrow. Love to all and thanks for the well wishes.
Hugs,
B
I've been very absent recently. Life has taken a beyond hectic turn since right before the dash. Many of you (I say that as if I have an abundance of followers, when I know that isn't the case) have wondered if I survived the dash, and if so, how did I do. I shall henceforth update.
Because I'm writing this, it does indeed confirm that I survived the dash but man, was it hard. Mind you, Rich and I trained a whole lot more than I did last year. When I talked Rich into doing it with me, I explained everything that went on last year. What I didn't realize is they'd take last year's event, which I thought was tough, and make it that much harder. This year's dash was less like last year's and more like a mini Tough Mudder, and I wasn't the only one who thought so.
I ended up in a pack of guys who also ran last year's, and we were commiserating about the increase in difficulty level from 2010 to 2011. The organizers of the dash thought it would be so much fun to go even higher on the ski slope this year. And the obstacles from last year? Yeah. They would have been child's play this year. They took the tire run/high knees thing like football players do, and threw in a few rows of junked cars and large trucks to hurdle over in between the 4 rows of tires. And the 4' high walls from last year? This year, they were a bit higher and you had to palm over them with upper body strength and then duck under barbed wire walls, about 4 rows of them. The swamp trudge was complicated by massive logs strung on tension through the middle that you had to hurdle over. There was this teeter totter thingie that was about 15 feet up in the air that you had to go up and then partway down and back up and then fully down, and it had little rungs on it. The problem is that it was only about a 2x6x12 so it wasn't that wide and from the height it was a little daunting if you fell off onto the rocky terrain. Hmmm. What else. Oh, the cargo nets took some crack cocaine and beefed up, they made a horizontal one you had to scramble over which was difficult. There was a forest of tires that swung and hit hard when the person ahead of you pushed them out of the way and you got them on the back swing. And the worst part? Instead of going up the ski slope, across a tad, and then back down, they started the down, and went back up, and then down, and then back up and then down, and then back up and then down, and just for fun back up before the final down. My legs tried to detach themselves and hop the ski lift down at one point. There were a few more crazy things that aren't popping into memory right now, but needless to say it was hard.
In spite of the changes to the course and the much more difficult obstacles I finished in: 55:16!!!!! I knocked a full 6 minutes off my time from last year. I couldn't have been any happier. I swore it took me an hour and a half, but when Mom and Dad said I came in at under an hour, and then my shoe tag confirmed it, I was amazed. Rich came in about 3 minutes ahead of me which was the exact same pace/distance we kept during our training, so it definitely paid off.
We were muddy, tired, sweaty, slightly out of breath, but overall happy. And like the crazies we are, we're signing up for next year again. Actually, I already did and Rich is doing it soon. It's going to be my incentive/inspiration for a speedy healing. Our goal in 2012? To knock another 5 minutes off of our times. And if I REALLY heal up, we're going to try for Tough Mudder in November 2012 too. I think Rich caught the adrenalin junkie bug too :)
If you want to view pics (though this year's photography company SUCKED) go to http://www.sportphoto.com/ look for the warrior dash series. Click on the 2011 Windham WD Saturday August 13
When prompted to enter bib number, put in 80604. They keep threatening to archive the pics, so if you want to see them, look before Sept 23.
I'll post a 'rest of August/pre surgery update' hopefully tomorrow. Love to all and thanks for the well wishes.
Hugs,
B
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